Rants on Cycling and on Life:
Photos of people and bicycles that pass in front of my camera

7.12.2005

todaytoday I woke up in a FUNKmornings are tough for meit is not unusual for me to wake up in a funkit is not unusual for me to have a chip on my shoulderit is not unusual for me to be a little thin skinned

as a father of two it is not unusual for me to be a tad sleep deprivedtoday was definitely one of those days

looking out the window to see the humidity so thick that it looked like the rays of light were cutting through smoke from a fire did not help my expectations of the daymy personal funk was combined with a hot funky world outside

on top of my usual disfunctionality...Dean woke up petitioning for a movie.... perhaps the easiest thing to do at 5 Am would be to put a movie on for him... but I do not want to get in the habit of such thingsafter the movie discussion it became the age old debate of.... "I do not want to go to school"Grant was going through his usual disattachment panic.... screaming out his favorite word... "MOMMY.... MOMMY.... MOMMY!"eventually Grant's babysitter, Soledad, arrived and I was freed up to walk the dogsby that time I was able to defuse Grant's need for Mommy who had left for workbut was still working on Dean and his distain for going to schoolSoledad took Dean away with him complaining all the way(Dean loves school when he is there... but... he loves the freedom associated with home)

the walk with the dogs was incident freethere were zero encounters with anyone on the trailsin thirty minutes time I was soaked from head to toe with humidity induced sweatactuallyafter three quick steps I was soaked from head to toesoaking wet before I was able to get from my porch to the sidewalk just 14 feet from my front doorDC summers will do that to a person

after all of that I got on my bike and pointed to work... well... Physical Terrorism appointment before workwith PT on the morning schedule I had a little time to do a little spin on the bikethe urge was great to hit dirtbeing the skoff law that I am I ignored the little signs with the icon of the bicycle and the red circle and the slash pedaled across town car freeweaving through various trails taking the heavily overgrown paths slow as it was impossible to see around the cornersduring my off peak hours I had very few encounters to speak ofa few faces I had seen before... man and beastone set of four legged beasts ran wild through the woods with the echo of cow bells dangling from their colarsthis was odd... but not so odd after seeing the owner with his reflective saftey vest and various electronic devices

during my ride I got to survey some of the recent trail repairs that I had doneas well as view the repairs that must be donehonestly.... these trails are a wasteland.... or at least a landfillbut the fallen trees at various points of the trail make things impassablehikers have rerouted the path in a less than effective manner.... or at least not in a rideable mannerbefore exiting the woods I did a little more repairtried to block off some sections of the trail where things were getting psycho wideandtried to create a little network of logs and rocks so that people can go over the center of the trail which has become a bogrode over the parallel logs a few times to test out their slippage and their effectivenessMISSION ACCOMPLISHEDwith a pat on my back I was back on the bikeplaying through my head how long these structures will last...will the Nature Nazis feel that these are unsuitable?will the Nature Nazis spend more time tearing appart my efforts than I spent creating them?ah... to be a fly on the wall?

after my trail repair I was significantly more dirty than I would have been after a trail ride alone

before PT I stopped off at work for a shower and a change of gearhaving spent more time in the woods working on the trail I was late for PTthis is where the story gets good...

so I roll in through the main corodoras I move down the hall a co-worker makes a comment...unsure what he is saying I grunt and keep movingdurning my turn back to grunt I noticed that I am leaving a sandy trail behind menow understanding what this person who very well could be viewed as one of my bosses is sayingI then shower and change....then poke my head into my officeon my desk is a note.....well... not a note... but a piece of paper and a pile of dirtit seems that the building's custodian had to sweep up my messand the man I passed left this little gift and a message to try and be cleaner....to this i flipped out... to my immediate boss.... not the guy who left the message

WHAT!WE ALL TRACK IN DIRT!EVERYONE TRACKS IN DIRT!IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT ON THIS DAY I TRACKED IN MORE DIRT THAN MOST PEOPLE!IT WAS UNINTENTIONAL!IF THEY REALLY WANTED TO CORRECT BEHAVIOR... THEY SHOULD TALK TO THE SMOKERS!THEY ARE INTENTIONALLY MAKING A MESS!THEY ARE INTENTIONALLY TOSSING THEIR TRASH ON THE SIDEWALK!CROWED IN FRONT OF OUR OFFICETOSSING THEIR BUTTS TO THE CURBMAYBE HE SHOULD COLLECT CIGARETTE BUTTS AND PLACE THEM ON THE DESK OF EACH SMOKER!MAYBE WE SHOULD TOSS THEIR BUTTS TO THE CURB!

then I stormed out the door and headed to my PT session fifteen minutes latewent to PTexperience great painmade slight progressthen returned to work after ventingfeeling betterand feeling relieved that I had not had this discussion with my BIG BOSS but just my mellow level headed immediate boss

planning on being more considerate and more clean when I come into work on the bikeknowing that it is foolish to expect special treatment because I choose to travel by bicycle rather than carknowing that no one should come into the building making any unneccessary messbe that mess cigarette, dirt, or sand

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